Dancing Lights! It's an LED Grid anyone can make

Sep 30, 2016

Yesterday we shared more info on how the Camera Kit works, so today is time to talk about the Pixel Kit, available on Kickstarter right now. This is a a bright, colourful an fun looking LED* grid that you assemble together and bring to life with the Kano Code platform.

As it’s core it’s a LED Grid with 8 rows and 16 columns (128 LED in total), powered by a Linux driven single board computer. It comes with an omnidirectional microphone, 3 regular USB ports, a mini USB port. There’s also a joystick similar to what you see on video game controllers, plus two buttons and a mode dial.

As the Camera Kit, you can plug it to your Kano Computer Kit or any computer with Windows, Mac or Linux with the included USB cable, to be able to use it without the need to use the battery. You can have it on your desktop to let you know about the important stuff, for example.

The Pixel Kit also comes with in the Tilt Sensor, a friendly looking device that has a small metallic bearing inside and packs a gyroscope and accelerometer to detect movement. You can provide the Pixel Kit with real world data like orientation and inclination by using it, modifying what’s being shown on the LED grid.

Here’s the full breakdown of what’s in the box, again by courtesy of our fantastic product team.

Follow the super easy to understand instruction book to assemble your kit and you are ready to get some lights dancing. Once you’ve brought your pixel to life is time to tell it what to do!

Each of the individual LED represents a Pixel (hence the name) that you can control individually. Using Kano Code you can control each of them, from color to brightness and more. The ability to decide what that single, powerful, pixel will do is entirely yours.

The joystick and buttons allow you to input signals into the Pixel, sending orders that can modify its behaviour. Use it as a mood board and just click a button to change the tone of colours. Click the other button to modify the brightness and play with color combinations and intensity of lights. You got yourself a very colourful device to lighten your house!

The pixel also comes with a built in microphone, so you can visualize audio and music, mindblown! Make the pixels react to the surroundings, use it to make a visual syntheziser.

Use Kano Code to start working on what your Pixel can do. You can start RIGHT NOW because Kano Code already has a virtual version of the Pixel Kit you can start playing with.

Decide what happens when you press a button, tilt the Pixel or press the Joystick. Change the brightness of the pixels, change the color, create animations and make them interactive.

Once you’ve created a set of rules you like, you can zap them to your Pixel and take it away with you, place it it anywhere you like, ready to bring some color into the world.

Our world is filled with data, so we’ve built in dynamic data support on the Pixel Kit, allowing you to connect it to real world sources like news feeds, weather, time and many others.

Use these sources to visualise important events and get notified immediately when something happens. Learn when your favourite team scores, get a visual clue when it’s going to rain the next day. Wake up in the morning and quickly check what’s going on in YOUR world with an easy to customise display.

Done creating? Share your creations on Kano World and explore what others are doing. If you see a project idea you like you can just zap it to your pixel and start using it, or modify it and make it yours.

:* You can read more about what an LED is and how it works right here.